Deserving an Explanation (Pearl/Open)

[Violet Alexander]

It had been a few days since the incident had happened with Pearl and Amri. Violet was sick of keeping her distance from Pearl because of it. Pearl was one of her best friends and she deserved better, so right now, Violet was making her way to her cousin's bedroom, explanation and apology in mind.

As she stalked down the long hallways of the castle, she thought about how she would explain it. She knew what she was going to explain but not exactly how. How was Pearl going to take her story? How would she handle the fact that her, Pearl's cousin, the one who didn't hang around the commoners, met and played nice with a Sceithian mercenary? And then there was the main question of, would she be able to keep the secret? All these questions danced in her head while she took her time to reach the room. Maybe she wouldn't be in there.

Soon enough Violets eyes met the door of Pearl's room. She stopped in front of it, just staring at it for a moment. She then let out a small sigh and raised her fist to knock on the door. She knocked gently, hoping that maybe she wouldn't hear if she were in there, just so she would have a bit more time to prepare. Should she really be hoping for this though? Since she had postponed talking to her cousin a couple days more than what it should have been.

No. She couldn't do it. Pearl deserved the truth and an apology and she was going to give that much to her. She was close to her and she didn't want to jepordize that. So, raising her hand she knocked on the door once more, louder. This time, if she was beyond that door, she would have heard the knocking.

[Pearl Alexander]

Pearl sighed, sitting on her windowseat and looking out at the branches of the tree that were just on the other side of the glass. Her big blue-grey eyes were held wide and slightly starry. If it wasn't for her long, silvery gown that she had had made precisely to match her eyes, her knees would have been up to her chest. But what kind of a princess would wrinkle her clothes like that? It was unheard of! She had to be prepared to look presentable every moment of every day, especially since she was the eldest of all the princesses. She represented them all as far as she was concerned.

It was a strange feeling. She and her twin had been on shaky ground for awhile now, and now, she and Violet had been arguing. It was a horrible, sickening feeling, and she was sure tears were going to start falling from her eyes. She knew that her cousin had returned safely, but she couldn't help but feel like she had betrayed her by leaving, and taking the guards with her. She had let her stupid temper possibly endanger a member of her family. How would she ever look her father in the face again? This ashamed feeling was so unpleasant and something she was completely unused to.

But she couldn't help but give herself the excuse that Violet had been acting very odd around that boy, and he scared her so...shouldn't have Violet felt like too? They seemed to know each other, but why would Violet, her cousin, bother making relations with someone like him? That seemed like more the type of thing Peregrine or Diana would do, or possibly even Pandion, but not Violet, never Violet. Violet was less tolerable of peasants than herself.

She turned her head when she heard the knock on her door, face lighting up slightly, wondering who might be paying her a visit. Maybe one of her sisters, or maybe one of her brothers, maybe even Peregrine was trying to become friends with her, like she always hoped he would, as she tried time and time after again to be his friend. She cleared her voice with a polite little cough, "Yes? You can come in." She turned to face the door, for it would be rude to have her attention somewhere else, especially out the window.

[Violet Alexander]

Violet was just about to turn away and leave, when she heard her cousin's polite tone ring out, directing her to come in. She looked down at the doorknob before she slowly reached out to turn it. She opened the door hesitantly and peered inside. Pearl was sitting by her window, probably thinking as she sat there a lot to think. At least, that's what she assumed.

She stepped into the large room and gave a small smile to Pearl. "Hey." She said softly looking down at the floor beneath her feet. She didn't know what to say yet, but she knew she would have to speak up soon. She couldn't just stand there, looking pretty. She looked back up at Pearl and straightened up a bit.

"Pearl," She began walking closer, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted that way, but I was only trying to keep you safe." She kept walking over until she was by the window with her cousin. "Please forgive me?" That was a good start right? Apology and then explanation.

Violet plopped herself down on the window seat next to Pearl. She had no clue why, but she felt like she was going to cry. First she meets some boy who kills someone in front of her, and then he treats her like s***, then she helps him, and now because of him and her, she could lose her relationship with her cousin. She wasn't going to let Amri get away with it if they didn't make up. She let out a small sigh. "Pearl I will explain everything to you, if you want to hear it... of course." She said, once again looking down.

She came into that room hoping that she could get everything out right. Now she was hoping her cousin would forgive her. She didn't care nearly as much about the explanation as she did about Pearl's forgiveness. Now only time could tell her what would happen between them.

[Pearl Alexander]

Pearl had not been expecting to see Violet walk through her doors, nor was she exactly prepared for it. She hated being yelled at, like what her father did when he was in one of his moods, so she usually tried to avoid all situations like that. How loud was Violet going to be? Were servants going to stop and listen? Would she start crying? Oh, she wasn't quite ready for this, and she hadn't even thought about how she might try to explain her irrational and dangerous behavior. Maybe she could just say that she lost her temper?

But she was surprised to hear Violet's apology...it seemed...not a very Violet thing to do, for she was usually more stubborn, and now it was just making her feel worse, "No Violet, I should be apologizing, I acted too rashly," she said softly, looking down, almost feeling embarrassed at being forgiven so easily when she didn't really deserve it. But...perhaps they had both done something that was bad, so maybe they could both forgive the other. Pearl definitely forgave Violet for being blunt, especially if it was her only intention to keep her safe. "Let's just pretend it didn't happen."

But her attention couldn't help but be caught when Violet said she'd explain everything, for she assumed that her cousin was talking about that boy. What was his name? Had he even said it to her? Wait, hadn't Violet said it? Oh well, she couldn't remember, but she definitely wanted to know what Violet's connection to him was. Sure he scared her and she never wanted to see him again, but she did love a good story, and maybe it would even lighten the mood, something she was looking forward to. "Tell me," she said lightly but excitedly.

[Violet Alexander]

Violet shook her head at her cousin, Pearl. She had no reason to apologize. She did leave, bringing the guards with her, but Violet had told her to leave. She was happy when she left, because she knew she would be safe if she had. She was the one who should apologize, like she had already done, because she pushed her cousin away without true explanation and she shouldn't have done that. There was also the fact that right after Pearl left, Amri left, which meant she pushed her away for no reason.

"No, Pearl, please don't apologize. I acted too rashly, not you." She stated, looking up at Pearl. She gave a soft smile to her cousin and then hugged her when Pearl had mentioned forgetting about it. That's all she wanted to do. She wanted to forget about what happened and go back to how things were. She wanted things to be okay between them, and she could see now that they were going to be.

Violet was a little less excited about Pearl wanting to hear the explanation, but she had told her she would tell, so she was going to. She took a deep breath and then looked out the window. "Well, it all started when I went to a pub. Yes, I went to a pub even though I'm not supposed to." She looked back to her cousin. "I was curious about what it was like. So, I went there and that's where I met Amri. He was really drunk and acting just like a five year old. Long story short for our first meeting, he freaked out for no reason over this blonde guy, wanted to play house, blonde guy then wanted me, Amri killed him and then we ran outside. I cried and told him he was wrong and then ended up leaving."

Her gaze ventured back outside. She still remembered that night like it happened yesterday. It was one of the worst nights in her entire life. "The second time we met was in the woods. He was sober and acting like a complete asshole. He didn't remember me from the pub, but he could tell that he scared me. I stood up to him even though I was scared and I guess he was surprised by that. He ended up remembering a little bit of the night at the pub, so he wanted to know why he acted like that. Ummmmm, what else? We ended up getting ambushed when we moved to a different area because it was raining." She knew she wasn't giving every little detail, but she didn't care. She just wanted to tell her the story and then be done with it. Plus, if she gave every detail they would be there for hours.

"He saved my life again, by killing the guys who ambushed us and when we moved again a guy from before who had hid I guess, attacked. Amri was struggling against him and I distracted the guy and Amri killed him. Oh I forgot to mention that Amri had a very bad wound in his leg, which brings me to the next part. I got herbs and put them on his wound and used my cloak to tie his leg. In the end he pissed me off and I left. Now he's trying to get me to tell him why I think he acts like a little kid when he is drunk. Which of course I know why, but I'm not telling him."

Violet paused and looked back inside. She didn't know how Pearl would react to the whole thing. Knowing she could've died about three times I guess and every time Amri had saved her. Also the fact that she had helped him. "So, that's the story. You have to promise not to tell anyone." She looked at Pearl more serious than she had ever been. No one could know about her story, and she knew that Pearl would know that.

[Pearl Alexander]

Pearl smiled gently at her cousin, seeing how distraught she had been as well. If she had known that Violet had been blaming herself, she would have gone to seen her much earlier, but she had been scared that Violet would yell at her. But she shouldn't have suspected that of her cousin, and it made her guilty to have been somewhat afraid of when all she had wanted was forgiveness. Oh, what an unbearable thought! To think that she had doubted her own blood for even a second! Peregrine or Diana would be one thing, everyone doubted them, but the other children of the Alexander family were all fine, well brought up specimens.

She hugged Violet back, deciding to just forgot about it and place this all behind them. As long as she didn't think that now, it wouldn't matter, right? The only way she'd let it affect her would be that she wouldn't let it happen again. She would make her family proud and be the perfect little princess. And she and Violet could get back to being their normal best friends. Nothing, not even this, would keep them apart for long.

Pearl stared at Violet wide-eyed as she explained to her how she knew that boy, Amri, his name seemed to be, and gasped every time she mentioned him killing someone or saving her life. What exactly was this Amri like? To just kill people without a second thought? Or maybe he had only been doing to save Violet? She shuddered. Violet had been in so much danger recently and she hadn't even known...she wanted to tell her right then to never leave the castle again! And...why would Violet try to help him when he was injured? He was just a peasant, and a scary one at that.

"Hmmmm," she said, furrowing her eyebrows and putting on a look of deep thought that looked comical on her face that was so unused to it, "I'm not sure whether to tell you to only go outside after sending out scouts to make sure he isn't there and telling you to only go outside when he is there." She bit her lip and tried to come up with some advice for Violet, even if she wasn't asking for it. That's what cousins were for, right? "Of course I won't tell anyone. But maybe we should tell the guards to keep a lookout for him? Or do you not want him dead?"

[Violet Alexander]

Violet stared at her cousin as she waited for an answer. Pearl was probably thinking the worst about the whole situation. Maybe she was wrong though. Maybe she was thinking on a positive note. She wouldn't know until Pearl said something. Hopefully she would say something soon. She didn't want to sit there thinking the worst about her cousin.

She covered her mouth as she giggled at her cousin's words. "Wow Pearl. I tell you all that and you can only worry about whether to keep me from him or not." She looked down still laughing. "You don't have to worry about that. I can handle myself quite fine around him." Her gaze went back to Pearl as she ceased her laughing. "He scares me, yes, but I try not to let him know that the best I can. He knows though, but I think as long as I stick up to him, he'll show some respect. It's a weird kind of relationship we have. We hate eachother one minute and then the next we help eachother."

She furrowed her eyebrows a bit and stood up angrily. "But, God he makes me so angry." She crossed her arms and looked around the room. "Sometimes I wish that we had never met or... I don't know I guess sometimes I wish I hadn't distracted that man." She took a deep breath and turned back to Pearl. She started to giggle again. "I think I might start getting grey hair sooner than I should because of him."

Violet sat back down where she was before. She smiled when Pearl had said she wouldn't tell anyone, but then her face grew serious about telling the guards to look out for him. "No. We can't do that. If we do, they'll ask questions and when we don't tell them, they'll either go to my father or yours and no one can ever find out. If they do, I don't know what would happen to me, and I don't want anyone getting hurt, because he is not afraid to kill. It doesn't matter who they are." She paused for a moment. "Pearl, he's... um, a Sceithian mercenary."

[Pearl Alexander]

"Of course I'm worried about you, Violet," she exclaimed, reaching out to put a hand on her cousin's arm. She was worried that Violet was digging herself into a hole that she wouldn't be able to get out of, and maybe she would get involved in things that would endanger not only her but the whole royal family. She couldn't help but think that maybe she hadn't thought this through. And though it seemed like this Amri was protecting her for now, who knew how long that would last? She had seen first hand his temper.

"Oh, I hope you're not getting grey hairs!" No one had the right to affect Violet like that, Violet shouldn't even have to think. They were just supposed to represent and represent well, and not have to deal with affairs of state. And now here she was, having to think about if someone was going to kill her or if others were going to attack her. It just wasn't right, and Pearl wanted to make it all go away for her cousin's sake. She should have just never gone to that pub! Then she wouldn't be involved in any of this?

However, her shock was nothing compared to what Violet said next. She gasped loudly and her eye widened to a huge size. "He's from Sceith?" Her hand went up over he chest as she leaned back, hardly believing what she had just heard. She had been willing to give him another chance if she had the horrible luck to meet him again, but it was just too awful now. Why would someone from Sceith keep going after Violet but not kill or capture her? He was hiding something, she knew it! "What are you getting yourself into?"

[Violet Alexander]

Violet smiled at her cousin. "Thank you Pearl, I appreciate the concern, but there is no need for you to worry." She brushed her hands across her lap as to remove dirt. "Like I said, I can handle it." Was that the truth though? Or was she once again lying to Peral? She didn't know. If she was lying, she wasn't meaning to because she believed she could handle him.

She looked at her cousin, cocked head, laughing lightly. Sometimes, her cousin took things so literal. "Oh Pearl, you can be so funny at times." She said through her giggles. "I am just messing around. I say it because of the stress he puts on me sometimes, but it's not too bad, I guess." She hugged her cousin once more and then pulled away to smile brightly. She loved having a conversation with Pearl. It was always fun, even if they had been fighting. They always figured it out.

Violets smile faded as she watched Pearl's reaction. Maybe she should've left out the fact he was from Sceith. It might have been better for both of them. "I'm sorry Pearl. I shouldn't have put that much of a secret on your shoulders." She let out a small sigh and thought about her cousins next question. What had she gotten herself into? If it ended wrong, everyone in her family could get hurt, or worse. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if that had happened. "I don't know.... I guess, I got myself into a lot." She paused to let her eyes become downcasted. "I never meant for it to get this far. Hell, I never even meant to meet anyone at all. I just wanted to see what a pub was like."

[Pearl Alexander]

Pearl sighed and let her eyes fall down and to the side. She really wanted to tell someone about this, someone who could provide more help than she, like Pandion or Peter, maybe even Peregrine. Either one of them would jump to the defense of their country, if not Violet herself. But they might act too rashly, and from what Violet had said, she could only assume Amri was a good fighter, and although she believed firmly in her brothers' and cousin's abilities, she didn't want to take a chance. If only she was on speaking terms with Eirian...

"Well, you already seem to be talking like those in a pub," she said, half jokingly, half serious, feeling it was her duty as the oldest princess to point out the cursing done by her cousin. Hopefully Violet wasn't learning any bad manners from that Amri. She could guess quite well that he wasn't a person with manners or etiquette, all people from Sceith were like that, and it wasn't even stereotyping, she was sure. They were violent, vulgar, and villainous, and eventually her father, her brothers, her cousin, and their army would kill them all and they could all live happily ever after, before their traits got passed on to Violet.

"I'm just not sure what to think of him Violet, if he protects you but makes you so angry...it makes me wonder what he's after." As much as she had been scared when she first met him, he hadn't seem like a completely evil person, or he would've have tried to kill her immediately, unless she was just a terrible judge of character. Oh, it was just too confusing, and maybe it was too big of a secret for her to keep on her shoulders, but she would try and help as best as she could.

[Violet Alexander]

Violet rolled her eyes playfully. Pearl had never been in a pub, so how could she possibly know how they talked. Unless she had been? No, Pearl wouldn't do that. She was too good for that. So was Violet though. At least that's what her parents thought. She would never do anything in spite of them, or rebel like Peregrine. She wasn't that type of person. She only wanted to experience what a pub was like, and it turned out it was one of her worse choices.

"Pearl, please, you know I have my moments where I like to put a few bad words in my sentences." She stated, smirking slightly. It was true. She did use curse words at times. Sometimes she used them even when it was unnecessary. Most of the time it was when she was angry though. She wouldn't go as far as saying the worse of the words, but she definitely wasn't afraid to let a few words slip.

Violet slowly leaned onto the window to peer out. "I think about the same things." She let her eyes roam around the premises as she continued with the conversation. "I just don't understand him. He doesn't care about me, yet he protects me." She sat back up and looked at her cousin. "This is when I wish for the power to read minds." She said, joking around once more. She didn't like the seriousness too much. She liked to have fun when she was around her cousin. When she was supposed to be serious she was, but deep down she didn't want to be.

[Pearl Alexander]

"Believe me, Violet, you don't want to know what's he's thinking. He probably doesn't do it very often anyway," she laughed, amusing herself with a picture of Amri's brain that contained absolutely nothing, maybe with a fly or a bit of fluff floating about. If he ever did have a thought, it would most likely be a thought of killing of himself. It wouldn't be surprising if he was in love with himself, Sciethians were like that, completely enthralled by their own skills the succeeded only in making like difficult for others. Nothing to love, in her opinion.

It felt good to laugh, and joke about the situation like it wasn't at all dangerous. Perhaps it would even do them some good and be their entertainment for awhile. Violet would come home and tell her that she had left him scratching his head and they would both laugh about it. This was also another thing that connected her to Violet, something she didn't have with others, and she was longing for something like that again, ever since her special bond with Eirian had all but disappeared off the face of the planet.

"But knowing you, you'll get the better of him without even raising a sweat," she said confidently. After all, the were Alexanders and just the thought of Violet letting do something like this to her was ridiculous. Eventually she would put him in his place or he would change his ways and everything would be fine again. Maybe she could even go out with her and help her somehow. Together they could take him down! And maybe then Peregrine would be proud to call her his sister, and her father would be proud of her too and maybe even Eirian would talk to her again.

[Violet Alexander]

Violet couldn't help but laugh. Not only because what Pearl said was funny and probably true, but because Pearl was laughing. It always seemed to be a chain reaction between them. When one laughed, no matter how upset the other was, they had to laugh too. That was one of the best parts about them being so close, other than the fact that she trusted her fully. No matter how scared she was about the fact she told Pearl about Amri, she believed deep down that she would in fact keep her secret.

"You are probably right Pearl." She stated in return to Pearl's assumption. One thing about Violet was she had no problem talking about Amri in a bad way. She had so much hate locked inside that overcame any sign of care, though it was very slim, barely there. "His head is deffinitely not screwed on right." She giggled a bit more and then shook her head. They were so mean sometimes, even though to them it was funny.

Violet smiled at her cousin's words. "Thank you, I guess." She said, letting out a light chuckle. "I don't know if I want the best from him. That might mean I become friends with the enemy and that's not good." Her lips then took the form of a frown. It wouldn't be good if she became his friend, unless something good came out of it, but him being from Sceith was bad enough. "Maybe things will turn out right, I don't know and I don't want to worry about it right now."

Wanting to get off the subject, she gave a sly smile to Pearl. "So, Pearl, do you have any secrets hiding away in your head?" She asked almost jokingly. Though joking, she was also serious. She liked to know what was going on, and Pearl could trust her, just like she trusted Pearl. Violet was good at holding secrets as long as it was a secret from someone she cared about.